1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to knowledge-based or expert systems. In particular, an architecture and method which facilitate the embeddability of knowledge-based systems within a complex hardware and software environment are disclosed.
2. Background Information
Conventional, commercially available knowledge-based systems, of which IBM's Expert System Environment is one of many examples, operate in what is known as a synchronous mode. That is, they are invoked to solve a problem, inferencing occurs, a conclusion is reached and the knowledge-based system is terminated. In larger, more complex environments, it is sometimes necessary to operate asynchronously and in real-time transactional interaction with other processes in the complex environment. In order to accomplish this, it is necessary to have a knowledge-based system that is asynchronous in architecture, modular in nature, and can save the state of its inferencing in between activations from the complex environment.